German Antiwar Art Masterpieces. Heartfield Famous Political Art Reveals Reasons As Well As Madness Behind Modern War.
Famous Antiwar Art Masterpieces
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Never Again!
One Vote Can Change History
Politicians Spout Junk For Gold
War Profiteers & Their Puppets
A Beaten And Blind Lady Justice
War Doesn't Nourish The People
Corruption Of The Youth
Conflict From Religious Bigotry
Atomic Weapons Must End
Prophetic Vision Of Trump's Global Warming Politicies
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Never Again!
The power of this Heartfield image Niemals Weider!” [Never Again!] has a universal message. It has been reproduced in several forms in several eras.
It was a 1931 AIZ cover, a 1932 poster, and this 1960 version.
The image is proof of John Heartfield’s hatred of war and his description of himself as “an old pacifist.” As a lover of nature and animals, it was an especially brutal expression for him to impale even the corpse of a dove on a bayonet.
The caption echoes the battle cry of Holocaust survivors - Never Again! The constant drumbeat of war mongers and war profiteers that lead to the slaughter of millions must never be allowed to sound again.
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One Vote Can Change History
Heartfield’s image 5 Finger hat die Hand (5 Fingers Has The Hand) is a photograph of a real worker’s raised hand. It remains one of the most recognizable and powerful images in political symbols in political art history.
What is more powerful than the human hand? A single hand has the power to cast a vote that can destroy the dreams of a dictator.
This iconic piece of Heartfield's political art has been reproduced as System Of A Down rock album cover. A man in Guatemala had it tattooed on his back in 2011.
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Politicians Spout Junk For Gold
Adolf der Übermensch: Schluckt Gold und redet Blech [Adolf The Superman: Swallows Gold & Spits Junk].
John Heartfield's photo montage of Adolf Hitler with his chest and belly full of gold from his financial supporters is one of the artist's most famous collages.
Heartfield shows the Führer performing a miracle of political alchemy. Hitler is able to convert financial contributions from war investors into nonsense into order to stir up the people.
This montage of Hitler was originally an AIZ Magazine Cover. It was a count, a member of the German nobility, who recognized the need for this montage to be reproduced as a poster and to be distributed throughout a Berlin under the shadow of the Nazi Party.
Incredibly, John Heartfield managed to survive as a resident of Berlin until Easter Sunday, April 14, 1933, when the SS came to his apartment to assassinate him. The frail five-foot-two Heartfield escaped by squeezing into a trash bin after jumping through the french doors of his Berlin apartment.
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War Profiteers & Their Puppets
Werkzeug in Gottes Hand? Spielzeug in Thyssens Hand! [A Tool in God’s Hand? A Toy in Thyssen’s Hand!].
Who is the real Russian puppet? Donald Trump taunted Hillary Clinton during their debate that Vladimir Putin had “no respect” for her. Clinton shot back, “That’s because he’d rather have a puppet as President of the United States.” Trump replied, “No puppet! No puppet! You’re the puppet! No! You’re the puppet!”
As the investigation into Donald Trump’s financial interaction with Russia deepens, could there be a more fitting image if it becomes apparent that Trump, because of financial obligations to Putin’s wealthy associates, is indeed a puppet in the hands of some yet unknown Russian oligarch?
Those with power, wealth, or some combination of the two have sought to influence politicians throughout history. Fritz Thyssen, Germany’s premier steel magnate was an essential financial supporter of Adolf Hitler. In this masterpiece of polical satire, Heartfield manages to reveal that Hitler was not “a tool in God’s hand” but rather “a toy (a puppet) in Thyssen’s hand.”
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A Beaten And Blind Lady Justice
Der Henker Und Die Gerechtigkeit [The Executioner and Justice].
View The Original John Heartfield Art (Maquette) From Which This Cover Was Reproduced
This montage refers to the "trial" following the burning of the Reichstag. Many believe the Reichstag fire, blamed on groups such as the KPD (German Communist Party) and the Jewish community, was orchestrated by the Nazi Party. The fire was an important political component of Hitler's rise to power.
The image is timeless. This haunting vision of abused and broken justice remains totally relevant today. So many suffer in countries where justice is defined by an unfair judicial system and for-profit prisons.
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War Doesn't Nourish The People
Hurrah, die Butter ist alle! [Hurrah, There’s No Butter Left!].
This complex piece of John Heartfield art plays off the words of a speech Hermann Goering gave in Hamburg.
The caption (Hurrah, die Butter is alle! Goering in seiner Hamburger Rede: “Erz hat stets ein Reich stark gemacht, Butter und Schmalz haben höchstens ein Volk fett gemacht.”) translates to (Hurrah, There’s No Butter Left! Goering in his Hamburg speech: “Ore [iron] has always made an empire strong, butter and lard have made a people fat at most.”). There is a terrible sadness in Heartfield’s comical take on Göring words. War does not enrich the very people who give the most.
This montage is meticulously detailed, right down to the tiny swastika on the axe the baby uses as a teething ring.
Sadly, the maquette (the original photomontage) for one of John Heartfield’s most powerful works of art has been lost forever.
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Corruption Of The Youth
Deutsche Eicheln [Germans Acorns].
In this complex John Heartfield political art image, the founder of photo montage shows a distorted Adolf Hitler (the enlarged head) as a gardener watering an oak tree. The oak tree and its leafs are traditional German symbols associated with patriotism and military prowess. The "acorns" Hitler is growing are symbolic of the Hitler Youth. Hitler is sickening the tree by brainwashing and militarizing the minds of the young.
The "oak tree" becomes crooked and sickly.
For much more detail on the symbols appearing in this classic Heartfield photomontage against Hitler, please read Andrea Hofmann's insightful commentary on Deutsche Eicheln by clicking VIEW PAGE.
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Conflict From Religious Bigotry
Gespräch im Berliner Zoo [Conversation In The Berlin Zoo].
In the Huffington Post on November 24, 2015, I read a article by Ryan Grenoble with the headline "This Daily Mail Anti-Refugee Cartoon Is Straight Out Of Nazi Germany." The article is illustrated with an offensive cartoon showing Syrian refugees crossing into Europe bringing rats with them. Further down the page is a Nazi cartoon depicting Jews as rats wiped from the doorstep of Germany.
I was instantly reminded of my grandfather’s 1934 photomontage, “Conversation In The Berlin Zoo.”
The monkey says The Nazis believe Jew are animals and will soon be locked up, like animals in the zoo. But the wise bird disagrees. The Nazis will put the Jews on the top of churches because they make the best "lightening rod."
When people are angry and frustrated, unscrupulous politicians will always find a entire group to blame.
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Atomic Weapons Must End
Fordert: Verbot der Atomwaffen! (Call For Prohibition Of Nuclear Weapons!) was one of the few posters John Heartfield was physically and politically able to execute in East Germany (DDR). This image was one of the very few that Heartfield created after his written request to remain in England for “his health and his work” was denied.
A strong hand (a call for prohibition of nuclear weapons) has the ability to reach out and end the snake’s power.
It is a great loss that Heartfield was denied refugee status in England and other democracies after the war. His financial situation left him no real choice but to return to East Germany where he was nearly tried for treason because of the length of his stay in England and the fact his dentist was under suspicion by the Stasi. The political climate of the GDR and the fact that he was denied admission to the Akademie der Künste for many years severely affected his failing health and limited his ability to function as an artist. He was finally admitted to the AdK due to the intercession of Bertolt Brecht and Stefan Heym.
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Prophetic Vision Of Trump's Global Warming Politicies
For Upton Sinclair book cover, John Heartfield created a prophetic vision of what might be the consequences of President Trump's ill-advised global warming policies.
There little doubt in the scientific community and among the leaders of almost every country on earth that global warming leading to climate change is real and man-made. The U.S. military has said that climate change would lead to devastating wars. It's why this image is included in the Antiwar Masterpiecessection. Yet Trump appears to want to challenge facts with economic and political nonsense whenever and wherever he possibly can.
It's interesting to note that Heartfield, as well as many other Dadaists were fans of American cartoons. The skyscrapers looming up under the giant waves comes almost directly from a Mutt & Jeff cartoon. We do not need cartoonish politics on an issue that could mean the very survival of the human race.
John Heartfield Political Art Antiwar Masterpieces
It’s not difficult to understand why Heartfield’s famous photo montage for the cover of Upton Sinclair’s book Nach der Sintflut also appears on this page. For financial reasons, United States politicians are currently waging a war upon our planet. Denying the science of global warming is simply a tactic for these unethical politicians to continue to collect money from their big money donors and their financial base. The result will be droughts, famine, and human migration on a devastating scale. It may be humanity’s final war resulting from greed and ignorance.
Antiwar Posters In Nazi Germany
Heartfield seemed unafraid to show his resistance to the insanity of Hitler’s march to war. His political art ripped away the propaganda of ignorance, political lies, and the financial support behind the Nazi war plans. He was beaten, thrown from a streetcar and finally targeted for assassination. Nothing seemed to stop him. He shouted “swine, swine” over and over again at a huge Nazi supporter who was demanding an apology as he smashed his fists into Heartfield’s face. The frail artist didn’t stop shouting “swine” until he was dragged away unconscious.
His supporters had some of his most powerful antiwar masterpieces reproduced as posters. These posters were pasted on public surfaces throughout the city of Berlin. These posters were made possible by the painstaking printing process “rotogravure.” Talented artisans, guided by Heartfield’s precise instructions, etched his work into many small recesses of intaglio copper cylinders. Ink was then transferred to a moving web of paper.
The messages of Heartfield’s political art masterpieces are as relevant today as they were when they were “art as a weapon” against those greedy for power regardless of the cost. There are still politicians who turn their supporter’s gold into speeches full of junk and hatred.